Soon after winning their first Coastal Plain League Petitt Cup championship, the Peninsula Pilots (39-24) finished 14th in perfectgame.org's rankings of the top 50 summer collegiate teams across the country.

The Edenton Steamers (43-14), whom the Pilots beat in the Cup semifinals, ended sixth on the strength of their dominant regular season.

Also from the CPL, the Asheboro Copperheads were 28th. Two other Virginia teams, both from the Valley League, made the top 50: the playoff champion Waynesboro Generals at No. 43 and the Harrisonburg Turks at No. 23.

The Norfolk Tides (69-63) fell 5-3 at Columbus to finish their Ohio trip and now face a homestand that will be critical to their chances of erasing a two-game deficit to Pawtucket and gaining the IL’s wild-card playoff berth.

Clippers veteran Jeremy Hermida slugged a three-run homer off Steve Johnson to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, enabling Columbus to split the four-game series. Winner Paolo Espino held the Tides to one run in six innings.

Left-hander Clay Rapada from Chesapeake, one of three relievers used by the Clippers, pitched a scoreless eighth, though the Tides’ Alex Liddi belted a two-run homer off Nick Hagadone in the ninth.

Pawtucket gained a game on the Tides by winning its game 1-0 against Buffalo.

Tuesday's Norfolk contest was a marked contrast from Monday night's, when the Tides beat Columbus 7-2 as former Red Sox ace Daisuke Matsuzaka took the loss for the Clippers.

Yamaico Navarro, Jason Pridie and Chris Snyder each had two hits and two RBI for Norfolk, and winner Kevin Gausman pitched five innings of shutout ball, yielding three hits.

Matsuzaka, who yielded eight hits, five earned runs and three walks in four innings, then requested his release from the Cleveland organization, and it was granted. He is 5-8 in Triple-A this season.

Eastern League:

Harrisburg swept Richmond in a key doubleheader at The Diamond, winning 3-2 in Game 1 and 5-1 in Game 2 before 6,349.

The Senators (69-60) moved a half-game in front of Erie (68-60) for first place in the Western Division, though the Seawolves won their game Tuesday. The third-place Flying Squirrels (65-64) fell to fourth place, four games off the lead and 3 1/2 out of second place, which they need to acquire to gain a playoff berth.

In Game 1, Rick Hague's leadoff home run off Drew Bowlin in the final inning, the top of the seventh, broke a 2-2 tie.

Billy Burns was 2-for-4 and scored the Senators' other two runs. Angel Villalona knocked in both runs for the Flying Squirrels, batting 2-for-3 and scoring once.

In Game 2, Burns was 2-for-3 with two runs, Brian Goodwin socked a two-run homer, and Jerad Head was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Senators, Washington's Double-A affiliate. Nathan Karns pitched a six-hit complete game to beat Taylor Rogers.